Cal Barnett-Mayotte L’22

Cal graduated from Swarthmore College in 2018 with an honors major in political science and minor in philosophy. While at Swarthmore, he interned with the Northern California Innocence Project and the Cook County Public Defender and volunteered at the ACLU of Pennsylvania. He also served as a writing tutor for his peers and a research assistant in the political science department.

At the Cook County Public Defender, Cal interviewed clients to help prepare for bail hearings. After witnessing the large number of clients who could not afford to post bail, Cal was motivated to join the Philadelphia Bail Fund, an organization that posts bail for low-income Philadelphians and advocates for the abolition of cash bail. Cal helps coordinate the Philly Bail Fund’s volunteer base and its court watching program, Philly Bail Watch.

After college, Cal spent a year as a paralegal at the Philadelphia civil rights and criminal defense law firm Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin, focusing on prisoners’ rights, police misconduct, wrongful conviction, immigrants’ rights, and indigent defense.

Cal enjoys books, sleep, improv comedy, SEPTA trolleys, and thoughtful conversations about accountability and the law.